The BOXER Development Programme (formerly GTK-PWV) will deliver a vehicle family, which will enable all the participating nations to equip their armed forces with the most advanced vehicles. For the armed forces, the vehicle will serve as a platform that is able to meet the challenges posed by today's multi-spectral missions.

The BOXER 8x8 vehicle is the result of balancing the key military requirements of Protection, Mobility, Payload and Stowage as required by the German and Dutch Armies. The development comprises of six national vehicle versions, including armoured personnel carrier, command post vehicles, ambulance vehicle, a cargo vehicle and a battle damage repair vehicle. The vehicle provides state of the art protection against mines and has adaptable modular armour to defeat the current and future threats that will develop during the life of the vehicle. Due to the built-in growth potential for weight it is also feasible to install additional armour to provide protection against rocket-propelled grenades and larger anti-tank mines.

The ARTEC consortium (ARmoured vehicle TEChnology) acts as the industrial contractor for the BOXER Programme. The ARTEC offices are located in Munich (GE) and the ARTEC parent companies are Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall Landsysteme in Germany and Stork in the Netherlands. At governmental level OCCAR, the European armaments agency based in Bonn is responsible for managing the programme on behalf of the participating nations of Germany and the Netherlands.

The BOXER Development Programme formally started in November 1999. In February 2001 the contract was extended with the incorporation of the Netherlands (NL) into the Programme. The OCCAR BOXER Programme Division was established during the year 2000 to manage this programme on behalf of Germany and the Netherlands. In October 2005 the Development Contract was amended to incorporate the modified German BOXER Armoured Personnel Carrier. This modified version will form integral part of the German "Infanterist der Zukunft (IdZ) concept. In November 2006 the Development Contract was further amended to incorporate a modification to the German BOXER Command Post version (FüFz).

The (basic) vehicle development phase has now largely been concluded. 12 prototypes are currently being subjected to an extensive qualification programme at German and Dutch trials facilities. This includes a 90.000 km driving programme in heavy terrain being conducted as part of the reliability trials with 6 vehicles at the Bundeswehr's trials establishment.

In December 2006 the next phase of the BOXER Programme started with the signature of the BOXER Series Contract for Germany and the Netherlands. First deliveries of vehicles have been planned for mid 2009.

In parallel with the signature of the Series Contract the Programme was extended to incorporate the development of a new German Ambulance version (sgSAnKfz) and two additional versions (Cargo C2, Engineer) for the Royal Netherlands Army.